Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) Raised to Buy at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $145.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $132.00.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on CAH. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Cardinal Health in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $139.00 target price for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Cardinal Health from $117.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Cardinal Health from $127.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Cardinal Health from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $101.00 to $127.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.71.

Cardinal Health Trading Up 1.0 %

CAH stock opened at $122.56 on Monday. Cardinal Health has a 1-year low of $93.17 and a 1-year high of $126.23. The firm has a market cap of $29.66 billion, a PE ratio of 23.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $119.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.76.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 56.56% and a net margin of 0.56%. The business had revenue of $52.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.73 EPS. Cardinal Health’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Cardinal Health will post 7.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Cardinal Health Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a $0.5056 dividend. This represents a $2.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Cardinal Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.30%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cardinal Health

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CAH. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Cardinal Health in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Cardinal Health by 69.8% during the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Cardinal Health during the second quarter worth $29,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cardinal Health in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Cardinal Health in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

About Cardinal Health

Cardinal Health, Inc operates as a healthcare services and products company in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It provides customized solutions for hospitals, healthcare systems, pharmacies, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories, physician offices, and patients in the home.